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Gulf states using COVID-19 contact tracing apps as mass surveillance tools, report says

The Verge

A new study analyzing COVID-19 contact tracing apps conducted by Amnesty International has found that Bahrain and Kuwait are using their public health apps as mass surveillance tools. In one extreme case, some citizens who downloaded the BeAware Bahrain contact tracing app became contestants on a televised game show called Are You At Home?

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Egyptian health and wellness platform Esaal raises $1.7M to scale across MENA

TechCrunch

As of 2018, Egypt’s doctor to citizen ratio stood at 1:2,000; you can paint a picture when you walk into any government hospital and see long queues. Doss said Esaal services are available in 7 other countries across MENA and the GCC: Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Palestine and Iraq.

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Meituan’s next decade: expands global footprint with focus on retail and AI

TechNode

How Meituan navigates these tensions will shape its future and influence broader discussions on platform economy governance in China. AI remains a critical focus as Meituan seeks to leverage artificial intelligence to build an integrated and efficient local commerce ecosystem.